Magic: The Gathering’s FROM THE VAULT: LORE Review

The annual From the Vault (FTV) sets Magic: the Gathering offers tend to be hit or miss. Even collectors who have to have every set will jump on the chance to bemoan the foiling style. But they put up with it because these sets are typically their best chance to get some of the older cards and not break the bank. Each set has a specific theme (you have Angels, Dragons, Legends, etc.) and this years’ is Lore. They (Wizards) decided to revisit some of the pinnacle points in the game’s history/lore and reprint some of the cards they felt best exemplified what was going on in their story at that time.

In the box (“What’s in the baaagghhx?!”) you get 15 FTV style foiled cards, three of which have alternate exclusive art for this set (Cabal Ritual, Mind’s Desire, Momir Vig), one 20-sided die/life counter, and a collectors guide. The box is a stark contrast in quality from my SDCC Planeswalkers set I reviewed (and will post a review of very soon). It is green and blue with an embossed logo on the front and a card listing on the back. It’s smooth to the touch and has a magnetic closure on the back, and a separate window for convenient viewing on the front. The card quality is what we’ve come to expect from Wizards, but with this type of foiling heat and humidity is not your friend so be warned (they tend to warp in a shape reminiscent of a Pringles chip). The spin down counter is both green and blue depending on the lighting and (as always) it contains the set symbol. The collectors guide is a 14.5″ x 20″ “poster” (using the term very loosely, I don’t know anyone who would hang this on their wall) that contains an image of all 15 cards in this set, details on when and what set they were originally printed in and the back story behind them.

This set will appeal to collectors and resellers alike. It’s MSRP is $34.99 and it contains cards that outside the set would cost you over $100 (Dark Depths from this set is currently valued at $36 so it’s a no brainer if you’re a third party reseller). If you are a casual Magic: the Gathering player who is not interested in formats other than STANDARD, this set won’t help you and you could probably let this one go. But if you happen to be a collector and like to show off your folder full of shiny cards with exclusive art, then Lore is one set that you should probably look into.